hi!

My practice as a writer has been developing towards audio work, and I have been more and more interested in the medium of radio as a platform for showing my own work, and also in radio’s possible uses as a tool of social empowerment. I am wishing to understand how radio is being used by artists and activists to create spaces that function as community centres, and how radio can be used to facilitate well being for individuals and in localities.
I will need to define what I understand by ‘community’, and also clarify which model of radio I will be studying.

I will be avoiding an ethnographic definition of community, as that is a life times’ work in itself- instead I will work around the ideas and writings of radio and audio artists (Gregory Whitehead, Allen Weiss, Charles Bernstein) and also other writers, artists and activists that offer definitions of community movements that I see Soundart radio as aligning itself alongside (Joan Retallack’s ‘dialogic community’, bell hooks’ ‘communities of resistance’, Felix Guattari’s ‘free radio’ etc.).


Radio for this CEP is a small local public broadcasting venture called Soundart Radio 102.5 FM, which broadcasts under a community license- it is not run for political or commercial gain, it is run by and on behalf of its listening community, and represents both the community of its geographical area, and also radio as a living and historic ‘hot’ media with a international community of listeners, producers, makers and enthusiasts. I will be seeking to understand how Soundart radio fulfils the role of community /ies, and how it serves the desires of said community /ies, and will be reflecting upon and monitoring my own interaction with these ideas as a individual participating, listening and producing, and process this into both audio and writing documentations.

Broadcasting can be considered as a mirror to the way we live, and I am interested in programming and stations that offer alternative and considered options within their scheduling.

Radio art requires a consistent body of research and practice that concentrates on sound at its point of signification, not a literal reading that will collapse into cliché, but a sensitivity to the ways in which meaning in sound circulates, dissipates and re-emerges. The development of an autonomous body of theory and practice regarding aural referentuality- in particular as it relates to radio and electronic media- will contribute to a better understanding of the role that radio art plays in the articulation of social and cultural ideas. (Lander,D. 1994, Radiocastings: musings on radio and art in Radio Rethink



The two community models I will be focusing on are individuals sharing a geographically related relationship within the area of FM reception, and also communities physically distant but still communing /communicating, thorough both FM and Internet radio. I will be looking the social benefits of participation in the arts:

Personal: growth in confidence, creative and transferable skills, social lives are improved through friendships, enjoyment and involvement in the community. In a wider social context: confidence of minority and marginalised groups is gained, promoting social cohesion. There is empowerment of a community to be involved in local affairs, a strengthened commitment to place and an ability to tackle problems. Provides the opportunity to take positive risks, contribute to education and personal and social change (Matarasso, F, 1997: ‘Use or Ornament? Social impact of participation in the arts’ p79-81).



I have secured a practical intern-ship at Soundart radio from September through till December 2010. This community radio station's location, programming and programmers, its geographical area, it's international and local outreach projects and its ethos and manifesto are all relevant to my enquiry.
My particular artistic interest lies with

Transmissions that Publicise the Private, or through an opening of dialogic space create new energy and directions within a social order.

Programming that re-instates the authority of chaos and chance, within the context of a functioning community.

Broadcasting that foregrounds and celebrates ambiguity and individuality, supported by structures of acceptance and value.

Work that transforms attention into action and revitalizes languages’ and radio’s uses in the public sphere.


I intend to immerse myself in the life of this small radio station for my time there.

Thursday 4 November 2010

the problem with blogs

I write produce, create, reflect, process, and find i have moved through over a week extremely busy but without documenting a thing! So blogger, again a commitment- any shyness or reluctance to commit to unfinished thoughts must be overcome.... the issue may be that this CEP and soundartradio invite a much more physically active participation than i was expecting- less speculation, more person present and doing ( must make time to get to a computer more often!!). Right here and now, I am sat in a Internet cafe in Borough High street, London, having just met Ed Baxter, the joint-founding director of Resonance FM. His technician Dragos, and volunteer Louise, get a mention here too- friendly people, very happy to be working in radio, their enthusiasm for the station and medium evident. The painful fact that the other volunteer did not offer my a cup of tea, yet served everyone else also stands out! its no hard task to be welcoming...? Ed was kind enough to put up with my meandering conversation for 25 minutes- the difference between soundarts gentle flow and Resonances' very structured high power delivery was apparent- the open plan office received 6 phone calls whilst i was there, Ed dealt with emails, tech issues, performance prep, etc etc. (he said he had not been out for a informal lunch in 7 years). I am a small town country girl (woman? girliness has i fear past :-) and the bustle and focus of this major art radio station was exciting, but not seductive. Ed is not only an artist but a facilitator of the contributing artists, volunteers and all others involved (city scale rather than rural) seeing him juggle inputs and outgoings was quite intense.
- key points
*the building creates community- station as gathering place, meeting point
*£9000, (and a fine piano) raised by weekend of canvassing for donations
*still not enough zooms to go round :-)
*clear spot / open door
x x x




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audio outreach *2

audio outreach *2
This work consisted of 2 tracks before and 2 tracks after a reading of a script. All related to place/home/community/physicality.... Ah the splendor of site specific work- it felt good to expose this writing to the airwaves- I used this show as a chance to broadcast over the environs a work which related to its physical Fm reach- something shared, a speech written around and in response to Totnes town and valley, and the on/ off love /hate relationship with a locality I've known since moving here aged 4. The script refers to landmarks both physical and metaphorical, rights of passage, ideas of belonging and ownership, reflecting on the generation of 'self' through geographical placement, and exploring ego through territoriality's.
In the introduction to the script, i refer to the works' sliding tenses- I/me/we/you/our/my/yours- the point of reference is always transforming, as the relationship to place also changes- my needs of 'it', its's demands of me, memories form the past skip along side recent more measured modern perspectives.
I wanted to broadcast something that might locals would be able to relate to directly, and any listeners form further a field might be able to translate to their own experience, or not- this work could be a answer to the age old first question to a stranger- "Where do you come from?"

Once again, it was just me, a microphone, and a couple of tracks on the playout computer- I may end up holding to this model till the end of this CEP- editing audio software still scares me a little- the only instrument i play is railings with a stick.... and i can kinda taste the formings of a dissertation investigating the history of the voice on radio....
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FETE WORSE THAN DEATH

Fete worse than death-
if community can be understood best through times of celebration, soundart radios' is very healthy, if slightly gruesome.....

this was a wonderful if wet and blustery day- full of cake and laughter, live music and side shows- a diversity of folks coming up from the local area- though most were indeed already involved with shows or supporters of the station... Nathan Carter and I led a fierce campaign of postering in the town and surrounding areas, but I think most visitors on the day were aware of the event through soundarts' emailing list....

Dartington Hall, and the radio station stand on the top of a hill a mile distant from the town, and even when there is a excellent cinema, a beautiful landscaped garden to stroll, and other arts activities, it is more or less exclusively used by tourists or those that already have established affiliations with artistic community ( I've always enjoyed theatre, music and art, but did not use Dartington for anything other than cinema and garden till i started college there in 2008- it seems a little bit of a blind spot for locals....). I think this is interesting alongside the way that radio can be discovered by accident on the FM range-something lost in digital delivery- a listener might enjoy a programme but not know from where it is broadcast and have no loyalty or intention to take that listening further beyond that sound event when the radio is heard. 
Artists and programme makers decorated the studio, manned home made entertainments stalls and 'Not Fit For Human Consuption Cafe', gave stellar performances (Ergo Phizzmizz, Sam Richards' Jazz, Gino, Extra Stereo on the decks) and the amount of cake, soup, cake, coffee, cake and other treats was phonomenal,

We raised £400 toward a new playout computer and enjoyed ourselves massively.
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